Chapter 10

After a painful day of worrying about Eric and missing him, I went to bed at midnight, miserable. He hadn't called me or Bobby, or Pam. They hadn't seemed concerned about that, which I tried (unsuccessfully) to take as a positive sign. I put the little sparkly red phone he'd given me on the nightstand. At about two-thirty, it rang merrily and I awoke from a bad dream about Bill sneaking up and stabbing me. The ringtone was "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life," which made me smile sleepily. It was kind of funny.

"Hi," I said, still smiling

"It is me," Eric said.

"How are you?"

"I miss you already," he sighed. "It's awful here. As I expected."

"I miss you too," I murmured, and felt so much better just hearing his voice. "Where are you?"

"At the queen's estate. She suspended the Yahtzee match for a dinner break. I'm lurking in a cabana, by the outdoor pool."

"Yahtzee?" I was mystified.

"A dice game surely designed for the fifth ring of Hell. The queen has a passion for it. It's a game of luck, which is the only kind she has a chance of winning." He paused. "Are you in bed?"

"Mm-hmm. All by myself…" Though I was still waking up, I saw where this was headed.

"Are you naked, Sookie?" His voice had gone lower, but with a smile in it. I rolled onto my back.

"Nightgown," I sighed.

"Will you do something for me?"

"Maybe…" I was already feeling warm.

"Get rid of the gown, Sookie… "

After a moment he murmured, "Close your eyes, darling…"

Later, I dropped the phone off of the bed when I came, but I'm sure he still heard my breathy gasps. His low voice and absolutely filthy ideas had had me almost writhing against a phantom Eric, and my hand had taken me over the edge.

"You have a dirty mind, Eric," I said happily, still a little breathless when I found the phone.

"I do," he said, unrepentant.

"Would you like me to do… anything else… for you?" I wasn't what state he was in, so to speak.

I heard a small chuckle. "Sookie, I was perfectly satisfied… way back when I was describing your delightful ass."

I blushed, and sighed. "You know… we're not really going to do that, Eric."

"It's much better in person, trust me," he said smoothly. "Sookie, I need to go… the dice beckon."

"Eric…"

"Mmm?"

"Get back here soon."

My phone rang again the following night, around midnight. Pam and I were reading magazines; Pam had brought a heavy stack of them.

"Where are you?" His tone didn't suggest casual chitchat, let alone a repeat of last night's call.

"Your house… the library. Where are you?"

"Is Pam there?"

"She's right here." Pam looked up from her Vogue.

"Put it on speakerphone," Eric said, and I took a few moments to figure out how to do that. Pam left her chair to sit next to me on the sofa.

"Okay," I said, and held the phone between Pam and me.

"Sookie, the queen continues to ask about you… she's very intrigued by your telepathy and your blood. Tonight she told me to bring you here." His voice sounded tight.

"Can you say no?" I asked. Pam gave me a look like I was crazy.

"I can't refuse an order from her. But Sookie, you're under no obligation to her. You can say no."

So. Just as Eric had insisted on borrowing me from Bill to use my "gift", someone higher up on Eric's food chain was demanding the same loan from him. I thought for a moment. "If I say no, and you tell her you tried hard to convince me, but couldn't… would you be okay then?" I looked at Pam, trying to gauge her opinion. But her face was neutral.

"I'm not sure," he said. I sensed that the real answer was probably not. He continued, "I've told her that you're an employee, and I've said nothing of any… affection. If you decline her request, she would certainly wonder why I couldn't control my employee better…"

"You could withhold your testimony… she needs that, right?"

Eric was silent for several moments, but finally answered, "That is the trump card… But if I play it, then new problems arise."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It would look very wrong if I seemed to take your side over hers. Since you're human," he said. "If she knew that you matter to me, and shared my bed, and blood, she'd be able to use you against me for leverage."

Vampire politics, I thought, annoyed. But Eric's skill at it had helped him survive for centuries. Pam looked pissed off, and said something to Eric, harshly, in another language. He answered her in the same tongue, and his anger was obvious. She scowled at the phone.

"How much danger would I be in?" I knew I sounded scared, but I'd had my fill of injury and hospitals. And Eric and Pam seemed very, very wary of the queen, so it wasn't crazy for me to be fearful.

"There'd be no point in killing you. She couldn't use you, then," Pam said. This conversation was reminding me again of the coldness of vampire logic, and the world that Eric really lived in most of the time.

Eric added, "But you should know… there would be limits to how much protection I can give you here, at her court. I wish I could give you clearer answers, but the queen is a fucking loon."

"What does she know about my blood?" Offering my telepathic services would be potentially acceptable if it got us out of her court unscathed, but becoming her hostage because of my blood would be a different equation.

"Part Fairy," Eric sighed. "Rumored to be delicious."

"She'd want to bite me?"

"Who wouldn't?" Pam asked.

"I'll withhold my testimony, if she tries to do that, Sookie," Eric said. If I went to New Orleans, we'd have to hope it didn't come to that. I didn't want to meet the queen, or work for her. Eric didn't want me to go either, but his position and possibly his safety were at risk if I didn't. I had a chance to protect him.

"If she really wants me to read someone's mind, I'll do it," I said. "If it seems like a reasonable thing. But I don't want her biting me."

"Agreed," Eric said. "Pam, you and Sookie drive here at sunset tomorrow. Dress up, but nothing too… revealing... for Sookie. Understood?"

"Yes, master," Pam said, with a little fond sarcasm.

"Thank you, Pam."

"Eric , where are my credit cards?"

"See you tomorrow," Eric said, and he was gone.